Police storm single dad’s hotel room for registering with daughter

As a DODO — Dad of Daughters Only — I never considered traveling with either of my daughters to be a horrible or harmful thing.

But, times have changed and there are frequent stories of fathers suspected of wrongdoing simply because they share a hotel room with their daughters.

The question is, what are fathers — especially single fathers — supposed to do when they travel with their children? Are they even allowed to do that any more?

Some people are uncomfortable seeing fathers hugging their daughters. I can only imagine what they think goes on behind closed doors in a hotel room.

But, do we have to cave into the prurient imaginations of others by enacting strict rules governing father-daughter relationships?

As in the case described below, the hotels stand behind the actions of their staff in reporting potential criminal activity taking place, even if the kids are traumatized by having rooms raided by armed police officers on the suspicion that something criminal is taking place because a man checked into a room with a kid.

For years, I would take each of my daughters on a one-on-one daddy-daughter adventure when I would travel for work. They loved those special experiences and I’m confident those type of trips contribute to the wonderful relationship I have my girls today.

Yet, last year when I traveled to Texas to visit my oldest daughter and took my 5-year-old granddaughter with me, I make sure that I loudly proclaimed that I was the girl’s grandfather and we had her mom’s permission to travel together.

Just to be safe, I carried a signed letter from my daughter giving me express permission to be with my granddaughter. I wasn’t entirely sure if we wouldn’t face a similar experience as this father-daughter duo.

From Nottinghamshire Live:

A father was left “disgusted” when a Jury’s Inn hotel room was stormed by police after he checked in with his 13-year-old daughter.

The dad, who has had full custody of his daughter since she was three months old, was horrified when police later knocked on his door and started questioning him on Wednesday night.

Coupland said the sudden outburst upset his daughter, who is half Thai, and she was left in tears by the incident, the paper reported.

It wasn’t the first time he was wrongly accused of abusing his daughter.

A native of Wisconsin who moved to Arizona in 2009, Greg Gerber is a DODO -- Dad of Daughters Only -- to three grown daughters. He worked as a journalist for many years before pursuing a career as a faith-based writer, author, coach and speaker. Greg is the author of Pornocide: How Lust is Killing Your Faith, Stealing Your Joy and Destroying Your Life.